Ink Business Preferred: 3x on Plastiq

For the moment at least, payments made via online payment processor Plastiq with Chase Ink Business Preferred Cards are coding under the 3x category bonus.

The 3x category bonus on the Ink Business Preferred is supposed to be for travel and shipping purchases, internet, cable and phone services, and on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines. Yet all bills paid through Plastiq on the Chase Ink Business Preferred cards are currently earning 3 Ultimate Rewards per dollar spent.

Is it Worth It?

Yes.

Myself and many others value Ultimate Rewards around 2 cents each (when transferred to airline and hotel programs). A 6% return (3 x .02) far exceeds Plastiq’s 2.5% processing fee, so paying anything you can on Plastiq with your Ink Business Preferred is definitely worth it. Even if you redeemed your Ink Business Preferred Ultimate Rewards through the Chase portal for 1.25 cents each (on cash flights), the 3.75% return is higher than the 2.5% fee (3 x .0125).

Typically I only recommend using Plastiq to pay bills in circumstances where you can’t meet minimum spending requirements for a bonus or manufacture spend for a lower cost otherwise, but the ability to earn at least a 3.75% return (more like 6%, and potentially even higher for super high value awards) makes paying a 2.5% fee absolutely worth it.

I would just keep an eye on your accounts to make sure payment is received for your bills, but from what I can tell (including my own experiences), Plastiq is pretty timely. They had growing pains when it first came out, but I don’t hear/read about those much any more.

What’s Plastiq?

Plastiq is bill pay with benefits. They make it possible for you to use a credit card for practically any expense, even ones like rent that normally require a check. With Plastiq, it’s easier to earn credit card rewards, tap early-payment discounts, and use your cash in the ways that make the most sense for you.

The charge for that convenience is 2.5% of each payment on a credit card and 1% on a debit card. They accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, JCB, Diners Club, and American Express, ACH, and wire transfers for payment. You simply specify who you want to pay, and Plastiq pays them either via check or electronic transfer depending on what the recipient accepts. You are notified once your payment is received. On average it takes about a week.

Note that you cannot pay mortgage payments with Visa cards on Plastiq. With other cards you may, but Visa does not allow it on their cards.

It’s Tax Season!

You can earn tons of Ultimate Rewards paying your taxes on your Ink Business Preferred. I have used Plastiq to my taxes the past two years and had no trouble whatsoever with the process.

While I haven’t seen any promo emails this year yet, in the past Plastiq has run promotions to get people to use Plastiq for IRS payments like this one…

Register here to receive Plastiq promo emails and keep an eye on your inbox for a discounted fee for tax season.

**This is miles information, not tax advice. Consult a tax professional before paying your taxes with a credit card.

Plastiq’s Referral Program

Everyone that signs up on for an account on plastiq.com is given a referral link they can share with anyone new who is signing up. You and the person both receive benefits–you get $1,000 Fee Free Dollars and they get $500 Fee Free Dollars once your referral makes $500 worth of payments through Plastiq.

FFDs are “Fee Free Dollars”–basically amounts of payments you can make without the card processing fee. You have 90 days to use the FFDs after you earn them.

If you decide to sign up for Plastiq after reading this article, please consider using my referral link. You’ll earn $500 Fee Free Dollars once you make $500 worth of payments through Plastiq. Once you have your own account going, share your distinct referral link with family and friends and start raking in those Fee Free Dollars yourself!

Bottom Line

If you have a Chase Ink Business Preferred Card, you should be paying bills that wouldn’t otherwise earn a higher return than 3 Ultimate Rewards per dollar spent with it on Plastiq. For whatever reason, payments made through Plastiq on Ink Business Preferred’s are coding as purchases that fall in the 3x category bonus are therefore earning tons on bonus points.

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Sarah Page Maxwell became a miles nerd after moving her base to Buenos Aires and beginning a transient lifestyle that would be otherwise too expensive without miles and points. In addition to travel, her other passions include hot sauce, yoga, and her boston terrier Omar.

I’d be interested to find out too. The Ink Plus is a Visa and the last time I tried using it with Plastiq there were issues with Visas being processed as cash advances. I guess one of us could try paying a small bill and see what happens.

Ink Business Preferred should not count towards your 5/24 total. Neither should the Southwest Business card. No business cards typically count towards 5/24, not even those issued by Chase (except for those issued by Barclays and Capital One). Read this post for more info.

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Sarah Page Maxwell is a miles aficionado and avid traveler, born in Virginia, raised in North Carolina, and currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has earned and redeemed millions of miles for herself and others. Traveling for free, the 29-year-old has been to 20+ countries, making sure to catch as many sunsets in each that she can.

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MileValue is the only miles-and-points blog that thinks systematically about the value of your miles and how to maximize that value!

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which MileValue.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on MileValue.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace.